"What? Another Rank 3 scroll?"
Gasps rippled through the courtyard.
"A second duel?" someone whispered.
"Isn't this just extortion?"
The Crown Prince's jaw clenched.
His pride was already bleeding, but deep inside, a fire still burned.
He couldn't accept what had just happened—not truly.
He hadn't lost.
He'd just underestimated Kael.
That was all.
His fingers tightened around the hilt of his blade.
"I agree!" he barked, loud enough for the orbs to catch.
"But if you lose again… you'll confess your tricks in front of the entire kingdom—and apologize to me.
Publicly."
Kael smiled faintly.
"Of course, Your Highness."
Robin stepped forward quickly, brows furrowed in concern.
"My lords, perhaps this—"
But then he stopped.
Because he knew the look in the Prince's eyes.
Stubborn.
Wild.
Unyielding.
Trying to reason with him now would be like shouting into a storm.
So Robin stepped back, lips tight.
And just like that—the second duel began.
